A Husband for Christmas
by Sarah J. McNeal
a short story in
Wishing for a Cowboy
Prairie Rose Publications
RTW is pleased to host the authors of Wishing for a Cowboy, the debut offering of Prairie Rose Publications. It's available in ebook at Amazon and Smashwords, and in print at Amazon.
RTW's guest today is Sarah J. McNeal. Sarah is a multi-published author of several genres including time travel, paranormal, western, contemporary and historical fiction. She's a retired critical care/ER nurse who lives in North Carolina with her four-legged children, Lily and Liberty. Besides her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and short stories may be found at Publishing by Rebecca Vickery, Victory Tales Press, Western Trail Blazer and Prairie Rose Publications. She welcomes you to visit her at her website or Facebook.
Her story in Wishing for a Cowboy is A Husband for Christmas — A haunting night of horror and a wish for a new life.
Jane Pierpont and her son, Robin, survived the Titanic, but her husband went down with the ship and the emotional scars of that night have kept her and her son locked into that frightening event years later . Robin is terrified of deep water and Jane has nightmares and survivor’s guilt. She yearns for a family, a loving husband and maybe another child, but she feels disloyal to Michael’s memory whenever Teekonka RedSky comes near her.
Teekonka RedSky loves Jane and her son, but all his efforts to help them past their painful memories of the night Michael Pierpont died have been unsuccessful. Unwilling to give up, can his Lakota beliefs help him bring peace to Robin and free Jane to love again?
RTW: How did Jane Pierpont and Teekonka Redsky come to you? Were they fully formed, or were they stubborn about telling you their stories?
Sarah: Jane Pierpont and Teekonka Redsky first appear in the World War I novel, For Love of Banjo. Banjo rescued Jane and her son, Robin, from a factory fire in New York City and Maggie took them home with her and gave Jane a job at the ranch. Teekonka Redsky is Banjo’s uncle, a half Lakota shaman who, like Banjo, is uniquely gifted with a knowledge for mechanical things.
I knew from the first time Jane and Teekonka met they were attracted to one another. Each of them has just what the other one needs. I had to write A Husband for Christmas included in the Wishing for a Cowboy anthology for Prairie Rose Publications.
RTW: What is it about Christmas that lends itself to romance? How is Gingerbread Boys incorporated into your story and is it a part of your own family lore?
Sarah: Christmas is about love, love of children, love of family and romantic love. It’s the perfect season for lovers to meet and express their love because it’s a time filled with soft lights, beautiful music, the smell of pine boughs and delicious food and a special magic that encourages the belief that anything is possible.
When Teekonka takes Robin to get a Christmas tree for Jane, she has nothing to decorate it with. Inventive Jane uses gingerbread boys, strings of popcorn and pieces of ribbon and cloth to decorate her tree. The smell of gingerbread just says home to me. When I married, my husband loved gingerbread. I could barely cook, but I taught myself to experiment making the things he liked with my McCalls and Betty Crocker Cookbooks that had been given to me as wedding presents. I made gingerbread boys and loved the way they filled the kitchen with their spicy aroma. So, starting with that first Christmas back in 1970, I started making gingerbread boys. Sometimes I actually hung some on the tree, but mostly, I just decorate them and give them as presents.
RTW: If you lived in Jane Pierpont’s house, how would you decorate it for Christmas?
Sarah: Just the way Jane did, I would place fragrant pine boughs in strategic places with lots of candles and I would decorate a tree with cookies and popcorn strings. I would add bows made from old ribbons and scraps of cloth and see if I could find some sparkly crystals from old chandeliers just the way Jane did.
RTW: What other books do you have for our readers to enjoy?
Sarah: The Wildings of Wyoming stories begin with a time travel book that has a ghost: Harmonica Joe’s Reluctant Bride. Joe and Lola take in a homeless teenager, Banjo. I had to write about this brave boy all grown up and wrote For Love of Banjo. I am presently working on a story about Lilith Wilding and Robin Pierpont, Fly Away Heart.
I write is other genres as well. In my paranormals, I just had the Legends of Winatuke series released. These stories are filled with monsters, adventure and, of course, undying love. Dark Isle, Legends of Winatuke (Book 1), Lake of Sorrows, Legends of Winatuke (Book 2), and The Light of Valmora, Legends of Winatuke (Book 3). I am presently writing a story about Pennytook, the Gypsy who appears in all these books.
Also just released in a single, is a scary love story, The Curse of the Amber Tomb. Two other short stories are: Gifts From the Afterlife (a contemporary, paranormal Christmas story), and Heart Song (a contemporary, paranormal romance about a man who survives breast cancer). I am revising Bitter Notes, a contemporary novella with a sexy Romanian hero and a baby grand piano left out to rot in the rain.
And my all time favorite story, a time travel, paranormal, written about a real family tragedy: The Violin.
Her story in Wishing for a Cowboy is A Husband for Christmas — A haunting night of horror and a wish for a new life.
Jane Pierpont and her son, Robin, survived the Titanic, but her husband went down with the ship and the emotional scars of that night have kept her and her son locked into that frightening event years later . Robin is terrified of deep water and Jane has nightmares and survivor’s guilt. She yearns for a family, a loving husband and maybe another child, but she feels disloyal to Michael’s memory whenever Teekonka RedSky comes near her.
Teekonka RedSky loves Jane and her son, but all his efforts to help them past their painful memories of the night Michael Pierpont died have been unsuccessful. Unwilling to give up, can his Lakota beliefs help him bring peace to Robin and free Jane to love again?
RTW: How did Jane Pierpont and Teekonka Redsky come to you? Were they fully formed, or were they stubborn about telling you their stories?
 |
| Sarah J. McNeal |
I knew from the first time Jane and Teekonka met they were attracted to one another. Each of them has just what the other one needs. I had to write A Husband for Christmas included in the Wishing for a Cowboy anthology for Prairie Rose Publications.
RTW: What is it about Christmas that lends itself to romance? How is Gingerbread Boys incorporated into your story and is it a part of your own family lore?
Sarah: Christmas is about love, love of children, love of family and romantic love. It’s the perfect season for lovers to meet and express their love because it’s a time filled with soft lights, beautiful music, the smell of pine boughs and delicious food and a special magic that encourages the belief that anything is possible.
When Teekonka takes Robin to get a Christmas tree for Jane, she has nothing to decorate it with. Inventive Jane uses gingerbread boys, strings of popcorn and pieces of ribbon and cloth to decorate her tree. The smell of gingerbread just says home to me. When I married, my husband loved gingerbread. I could barely cook, but I taught myself to experiment making the things he liked with my McCalls and Betty Crocker Cookbooks that had been given to me as wedding presents. I made gingerbread boys and loved the way they filled the kitchen with their spicy aroma. So, starting with that first Christmas back in 1970, I started making gingerbread boys. Sometimes I actually hung some on the tree, but mostly, I just decorate them and give them as presents.
RTW: If you lived in Jane Pierpont’s house, how would you decorate it for Christmas?
Sarah: Just the way Jane did, I would place fragrant pine boughs in strategic places with lots of candles and I would decorate a tree with cookies and popcorn strings. I would add bows made from old ribbons and scraps of cloth and see if I could find some sparkly crystals from old chandeliers just the way Jane did.
RTW: What other books do you have for our readers to enjoy?
I write is other genres as well. In my paranormals, I just had the Legends of Winatuke series released. These stories are filled with monsters, adventure and, of course, undying love. Dark Isle, Legends of Winatuke (Book 1), Lake of Sorrows, Legends of Winatuke (Book 2), and The Light of Valmora, Legends of Winatuke (Book 3). I am presently writing a story about Pennytook, the Gypsy who appears in all these books.
Also just released in a single, is a scary love story, The Curse of the Amber Tomb. Two other short stories are: Gifts From the Afterlife (a contemporary, paranormal Christmas story), and Heart Song (a contemporary, paranormal romance about a man who survives breast cancer). I am revising Bitter Notes, a contemporary novella with a sexy Romanian hero and a baby grand piano left out to rot in the rain.
And my all time favorite story, a time travel, paranormal, written about a real family tragedy: The Violin.
♥ ♥ ♥
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